St. Dominic Parish was established on April 15, 1963. Bishop Romeo Blanchette
appointed our first pastor, Fr. Edmund Gregory, on May 17 of the same year.
Future St. Dominic parishioners first attended Mass at St. Andrew Church in
Romeoville, where our newly appointed pastor was provided housing and greeted
his new flock on Sundays. Shortly after that time our parish was formed. Dover
Construction, who was then building most of the housing in Bolingbrook, donated
their building headquarters. The parish had its first building and Fr. Gregory
had a home. This is the building that stands between the Fire Station and the
parish office. Many fundraisers were held by our early parishioners including
dances, pancake breakfasts, and even plays at other public buildings. These
funds were used to aid in the cost of building a church. When Fr. Gregory was joined
by his first assistant priest, Fr. Raymond Grasso, a home on Cedarwood became
the parish rectory. The original rectory was then leased to the Bolingbrook
Police Department as their headquarters.
The new parish was beginning to take shape. Masses were originally held at North
View School on East Briarcliff Road. On March 1, 1964, chairs and a temporary
altar were set up each Sunday for two masses. On June 21, 1964, ground-breaking
ceremonies were held at our present school site with Bishop Blanchette in
attendance. A procession of parishioners met the Bishop at Frontage Road and
followed a route down Lawton Lane to the home of their future church.
The first Mass was held at St. Dominic Church, now our school gym, on February 28, 1965. Bishop Blanchette returned that June to formally consecrate the church. The first set of vestments were sewn by some of the women of the parish using a pattern borrowed from Saints Peter and Paul Church in Naperville.
Fr. John Novak became St. Dominic's pastor in 1969 and was instrumental in
establishing St. Dominic School. The school first began as 1st through 3rd, then
later expanded through 6th grade, and finally through 8th grade. In
November of 1973, Fr. Novak was transferred, and our third pastor was Fr. Frank Anksorus.
One of the first things Fr. Frank did was get approval for a new rectory, and
also received approval to sell the old rectory on Cedarwood. As the village
grew, so did the Catholic population. In 1975, the parish began to hold masses
at the Bolingbrook High School to accommodate the parishioners west of Route 53.
On September 9, 1979, the Worship Center was completed at the corner of
Whitewater and Boughton. At this time, the center was known as St. Dominic West. The building was multi-functional. In addition to Sunday masses,
the building held bingo, parish
dances, and meetings.
In June of 1980, this building
became St. Francis of Assisi Parish and Fr. James Dougherty, an assistant at St.
Dominic, was appointed pastor of the new parish.
Fr. Frank realized that even though the Village of Bolingbrook had two parishes,
the current church of St. Dominic was still too small. Fr. Frank contacted Fox
and Fox Architects, and plans were soon made for a new St. Dominic Church. During this time of growth and expansion, Fr. Frank learned that he had cancer.
Following the discovery of the cancer, the newly appointed Bishop of
the Diocese of Joliet, Bishop Joseph Imesch sent Fr. Michael Lane to us as a
"temporary associate".
The ground breaking for St. Francis took place in the
fall of 1981. Sadly, this was as far as Fr. Frank would get. He died in
November of 1981. Fr. Martin Gabel was named our fourth pastor.
Fr. Martin had the great task of completing Fr. Frank's dream of a new church.
The early 1980's were a time of harsh economic conditions, but through the
generosity of Bishop Imesch, we were given the loan for the new church at a very
good rate. In 1983 the people in the parish performed hard work and
dedicated their time, talent, and treasures. The new church was
dedicated on behalf of Fr. Martin who became somewhat of a "mentor" to young seminarians and
priests during his tenure.
In 1983, a young seminarian arrived at St. Dominic Parish. His name was Mark Jendrysik. He was here for just a short time, but would return years later. Many other seminarians and priests were assigned here for training with Fr. Martin and his special brand of mentoring.
In 1986, another newly ordained
priest would become a part of St. Dominic Parish. His name was John Mc Geean.
You'll see this name again too.
In 1986, Fr. Martin obtained funds from the Diocese to re-asphalt and re-seal
the parking lot. He was also responsible for a new roof on the school, and the
beginning of kindergarten at St. Dominic School. On June 21, 1989, Fr. Martin
was transferred to St. Michael Parish in Wheaton, IL, and Fr. Michael Lane
became the fifth pastor of St. Dominic Parish.
Fr. Michael obtained many of the beautiful statues we still have including the
statue of St. Dominic that is in front of the office, the statue of the Blessed
Virgin between the office and the church, and the statue of St. Michael in the
foyer of the church. Fr. Michael also brought in the beautiful baptistery
that we have in the church. He was responsible for the addition of a
second kindergarten class, and hiring a full-time business manager. Fr.
Michael also help obtain the addition of 408 East Briarcliff building to the
parish.
In 1990, Fr.
Michael saw the growing Hispanic population of our congregation, and we
celebrated our first mass in Spanish. In 1992 Fr. John Mc Geean was
assigned to St. Anne in Oswego and
Father Jerry Simonelli arrived as assistant pastor. In the fall of 1994 Father
Michael Lane hired Linda M. Cerabona as the leader of the music
ministry. In June of 1995 Fr. Michael Lane was transferred to
Elmhurst. St. Dominic welcomed the sixth pastor, Fr. James Antiporek.
Fr. Jim moved the priest living quarters to 408 East Briarcliff. He
also moved the Spanish Mass from 9:30 a.m.. Sunday morning to Noon. In July 1996 we
had a flood. There was water everywhere. The basement of the living quarters was
flooded, the crawl-space of the office was flooded, the school was flooded, and
"Lake Dominic" was born as the entire parking lot was under water. Thankfully,
no tragic damage was caused, and life continued on. During Fr. Jim's tenure we
also received new carpet for the church and the choir area was re-configured.
The picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe was hung in the church as well.
In 1998 we saw an end of another era. Since the school had opened in 1966, the
principal had always been a Sister of St. Francis of Christ the King. Beginning
with the school year of 1998-1999, the school principal would be a lay person;
Mrs. Judith Bonkalski. She had the immediate challenge of a new roof for the
school.
In March of 1999, it was announced that Fr. Jim was to be transferred. It was
announced that Fr. Mark Jendrysik would become the seventh pastor, and that Fr.
John Mc Geean would become the associate or Parochial Vicar. Fr. John
and Fr. Mark arrived in June of 1999.
Fr. Mark enjoys change and makes changes possible. In the school, he replaced the 25 year-old "mobile classrooms" with brand new units, in which St. Dominic could host pre-school classes for three and four-year olds. He moved the school library into the school building and provided new and additional resources for the library. In addition to the the new library, Fr. Mark obtained donations and designed an up-to-date computer lab and laptop lab to be used throughout the school. Fr. Mark renovated the gym adding additional storage space and concession stands. In September of 2003, he was able to obtain some grants and funding and added two additional classrooms to the school building. These classrooms were in the original plans of 1963. So the parish was able to complete the plans left by the Founders of the Parish. A dedication will take place after January 1, 2004, along with a re-naming of the gymnasium. Fr. Mark continues to listen and rely upon the people of St. Dominic and prays for them.
Fr. John was with us for one year and in April 2000, it was announced that Fr. Tom Cargo would be coming to replace Fr. John. Fr. Tom was our new associate. He was with us for two very short years and added so much to our parish in prayer and liturgy. In June of 2002, Father Tom would become the new pastor at St. Joseph Parish in Addison, and Father Mark would be the only priest at St. Dominic.
Fr. Mark gave his all for one year for everyone constantly relying on God for energy to serve St. Dominic Parish. He did not change the Mass schedule and worked for the entire parish. Finally, in April of 2003, it was announced that Fr. Luis would be our assistant. Relief was on the way. Fr. Luis is one of 23 children and a blessing to our parish. You can often find him praying in church and ministering to the entire Parish community.
2005 - The Young Disciples of Christ
At the age of 32, Fr. David Lawrence joined St. Dominic Parish in July, 2005.
(The rest of the story is now being written....!)
Almost a year later in 2006 - the young Bishop Peter Sartain, 54, was appointed the fourth Bishop of the Diocese of Joliet. http://www.dioceseofjoliet.org/sartain.asp.
Fr. Luis Gutierrez, our Associate Pastor of 5 years, left in June, 2008, to become the new Pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Addison, IL. The last weekend of June, St. Dominic Parishioners welcomed their new Associate Pastor -- Fr. Marek Jurzyk, originally from Poland, ordained in 1991 in the oldest diocese in Poland (est.1075).
As our parish continues to make history, please keep the webmaster informed by sharing experiences and changes in our parish by e-mailing the webmaster. May God keep you and watch over you. May God inspire you to help make the parish of St. Dominic history in God's eyes!
